very common form of thinking in reverse. You must commence
to look ahead and you must start applying what we profess in
the seminars. So go ahead and book your trip-make definite
plans-and don't give one thought to anything going wrong.
Know that whatever you need for your goal to materialize, will
begin to be attracted to you, as soon as you accept the idea
that you are going, and make definite plans to do so. If it is
money that you need, you will have it. It might not all be in
place until the very last moment; but if you see it, and you
believe it, and you expect it, you most certainly will receive it."
I won't bore you with the details of how things all came
together, but I will tell you they came together in wondrous
and unexpected ways. Eventually, Patti actually attracted
more money than she required for her trip. I was at the airport
at approximately 6 a.m. with Patti's parents-on the morning
that she left, and it was a tremendously gratifying experience
for me, to see her face aglow with nervous excitement. Suffice
it to say, she went on her cruise. She had enough courage to
travel alone and she enjoyed a trip which she will surely
remember all the days of her life. But what is even more
important than the trip itself is the awareness Patti gained
from the experience. For she now knows, through her own
personal experience, that if you think in reverse, you will only
see reasons why you can't. However, if you will but look into
the future with a positive, even expectant attitude, you will see
that you "can do." Patti will be able to apply this awareness
toward the achievement of all of her future wishes.
Have you been dreaming of a trip? If you have, go out
and book your reservations. It doesn't matter if the
reservations are for six months or a year from now; make them
immediately and then enjoy the anticipation which precedes
the actual event. I honestly believe that in Patti's particular
case, the excitement leading up to her trip was equally as
enjoyable and exciting as the actual trip itself (not to mention
the enjoyment which she will derive from the memories of her
trip, which she will carry with her for the rest of her life).
The probable reason that so few people make plans or set
goals, similar to the one discussed above, is that most people
are unable-in their own mind-to figure out how everything
necessary will come together. But you must understand, you
need not know how everything will come together. All you have
to understand is the underlying principle, by which your good
comes; namely, everything which you receive in life comes by
virtue of the "Law of Attraction."
The Paul Hutsey story - in chapter three - is an excellent
example of a conscientious, intelligent, hardworking person,
who was attempting to do something which was tantamount to
a person jumping off the front porch of his home, and then
expecting, somehow, to land on the roof-you know that this is
never going to happen. Yet Paul had spent twenty years:
1. letting the sales sheets in his office
control the image that he held of his operation,
and
2. attempting to improve the results he
was getting through sheer force of will, dogged
determination and long hard hours of
agonizing toil.
Everybody - by doing all of these things - certainly will
improve their results to some degree; but they will never
witness a dramatic improvement in their results, until they
have first altered the image, which they are holding in their
mind's eye. Paul Hutsey is a prime illustration of a person who
fully believed he was looking ahead, when in actual fact, he
was guilty of "thinking almost completely in reverse." For he
spent the vast majority of his time consciously focusing on
present results, present thoughts and present images.
If you have been guilty of allowing your sales-sheets, your
bank account, or the x-rays the doctor takes of your body,
control the way you feel, think, or view your sales, financial
position or health, I can assure you that-just as certain as it's
going to get dark tonight-there will not be any marked
improvement in your life in any of these areas. On the other
hand, if you will let the present, physical results serve only as
an indication of the images which you have been holding in
the past, and then you proceed-by virtue of your own higher
mental faculties-to look into the bright future and to build an
image of the good that you desire (just as Patti and Paul did),
you will see your image materialize. But again, as long as you
continue to let your present or past results control your
thinking process, you will never live to see your dreams come
true.
Therefore, look up, look ahead and form the image of the
life you choose to live, then everything you touch or come in
contact with will grow and expand and express itself in a
greater and greater way.
Individuals who are thinking in reverse, very rarely, if
ever, originate ideas which lead them to providing meaningful
service to others. The reason for this is that they are only able
to see what someone else has already done. As a result of their
limited mind-set, the rewards which they will ultimately
receive in life are destined to be equally limited.
The 333 Story
I was doing a seminar, which ran from Thursday night to
Sunday, at the Deerhurst Lodge, which is a resort
approximately 100 miles north of Toronto. On the Friday
night, a tornado swept through Barrie, Ontario, a town about
40 miles south of Deerhurst. The tornado killed a dozen people
and did millions of dollars worth of damage. On the Sunday
night, as I was coming home, I stopped the car when I got to
Barrie. I got out on the side of the highway and looked around.
It was a mess. Everywhere I looked, there were smashed
houses and cars turned upside down.
That same night, another gentleman, Bob Templeton,
was driving down the same highway. He and I had never met,
however, an idea from my seminar was about to bring us
together in a lasting friendship. He stopped to look at the
disaster, just as I had, only his thoughts were different than
my own. Bob was the Vice-President of Telemedia
Communications, a company which owns a string of radio
stations in Ontario and Quebec. As he stood there viewing the
disaster, he thought there must be something he could do for
these people (with the radio stations he had). That thought
kept returning to his mind that night and all the next day.
The following night, I was doing another seminar in
Toronto. Bob Templeton and Bob Johnson, another vice-
president from Telemedia, came in and stood at the back of
the room. They were evaluating my seminar, trying to decide if
I could help their company reach its goals, which I ultimately
did. Because of Bob Templeton's influence, I subsequently
worked for the entire Canadian broadcasting industry. He
loved what I was doing in my seminars because it was in
harmony with his way of thinking. Bob Templeton became
fascinated with the laws of the universe, particularly The Law
of Polarity or as it is often referred to, The Law of Opposites.
This law clearly states everything has an opposite. You cannot
have an up without a down, hot without cold or in without
out. By the same token, if you can figure out why something
you want to do cannot be done, by law, you must be able to
figure out how it can be done. People who accomplish great
things are aware of the negative, however, they give all of their
mental energy to the positive. After the seminar, Bob
Templeton went back to his office. He told me it was late but
this one idea he picked up had him excited. It also had him
committed to the idea of raising millions of dollars and giving
it to the people who had been caught in the tornado, and he
was going to raise the money immediately! Futhermore, he was
not remotely interested in why he couldn't.
The following Friday he called all of his executives at
Telemedia into his office. At the top of a flip chart in bold
letters, he wrote three 3's. He said to his executives "How
would you like to raise 3 million dollars, 3 days from now, in
just 3 hours and give the money to the people in Barrie?"
There was nothing but silence in the room.
Finally someone said, "Templeton, you're crazy. There is
absolutely no way we could raise 3 million dollars, in 3 hours,
3 days from now!"
Bob said, "Wait a minute. I didn't ask you if we could or
even if we should. I just asked you if you would like to." Bob
Templeton was wise; he was appealing to the charitable side of
their nature. It was important for those present to openly
admit that this was something they wanted to do. Bob
Templeton knew that his new idea could show anyone how to
accomplish anything they wanted by working with the law.
They all said, "Sure, we'd like to." He then drew a large T
underneath the 333. On one side he wrote, 'Why We Can't.' On
the other side he wrote, 'How We Can.' Under the words, 'Why
We Can't,' Bob Templeton drew a large X. As he placed the X
on the flip chart, he said, "Now there is no place to record the
ideas we think of which explain why we can't raise 3 million
dollars, in 3 hours, 3 days from now, regardless of how valid
they might be." He continued by explaining, "When anyone
calls out an idea which suggests why we can't, everyone else
must yell out as loud as they can, NEXT. That will be our
command to go to the next idea. Ideas are like the cars on a
train, one always follows the other. We will keep saying Next
until a positive idea arrives."
Bob smiled and continued to explain that, "Opposite the
X on the other side of the flipchart, directly under the words,
'How We Can,' I will write down every idea that we can come
up with on how we can raise 3 million dollars, in 3 hours, 3
days from now." He also suggested in a very serious tone of
voice, that everyone will remain in the room until we figure it
out. "We are not only going to think of how we can raise 3
million dollars immediately, after we originate the ideas we are
going to execute them!" There was silence again.
Finally, someone said, "We could do a radio show across
Canada."
Bob said, "That's a great idea," and wrote it down under,
'How We Can.'
Before he had it written on the right hand side of the
flipchart, someone said, "You can't do a radio show across
Canada. We don't have radio stations across Canada!" Since
Telemedia only had stations in Ontario and Quebec, you must
admit that was a pretty valid objection. However, someone in
the back of the room, in a rather soft tone said, "Next."
Bob Templeton replied, "Doing a radio show is how we
can. That idea stays." But this truly did sound like a
ridiculous idea, because radio stations are very competitive.
They usually don't work together and to get them to do so
would be virtually impossible according to the standard way of
thinking.
All of a sudden someone suggested, "You could get
Harvey Kirk and Lloyd Robertson, the biggest names in
Canadian broadcasting, to anchor the show." These gentlemen
are anchors of national stature in the Canadian television
industry. Someone clearly spoke out saying, "They're not going
to go on radio." But, at that point the group yelled, "NEXT."
Bob said, that was when the energy shifted; everyone got
involved and it was absolutely amazing how fast and furious
the creative ideas began to flow.
That was on a Friday. The following Tuesday they had a
radiothon, where 50 radio stations, from all across the
country, agreed to work in harmony for such a good cause.
They felt it didn't matter who got the credit, as long as the
people in Barrie got the money. Harvey Kirk and Lloyd
Robertson anchored the show and they succeeded in raising 3
million dollars, in 3 hours, within 3 business days!
You see, you can have whatever you want; all things are
possible when you put your focus on how you can and "Next"
every idea telling you why you can't.
This may be a difficult exercise in the beginning,
however, when you persist "Next-ing" any and all negative
concepts, the flow of positive ideas will roar into your
marvelous mind.
Alfred Adler, the renowned psychologist, coined the
extraordinary phrase "I am grateful to the idea that has used
me." There can be no doubt that creative, forward-thinking
ideas literally breathe new life into every fibre of your being.
They awaken a part of you that you never even knew was
sleeping.
Bob Templeton never received five cents for the
leadership role he played, in marshalling 50 radio stations
from right across Canada, to raise the three million dollars for
the people of Barrie, Ontario in Canada. However, you must
remember that this is truly an orderly universe; God's way of
running this show is exact-when you put good out, it must
come back.
I shared this story, when it happened, with two good
friends of mine, Jack Canfield and Mark Victor Hansen. They
were so intrigued by the story, they published it in their book
Chicken Soup for the Soul.
I was recently doing a satellite television broadcast for
RE/MAX Real Estate with Mark Victor Hansen and he was
telling me that, at last count, they had sold six million copies
of their book. He also told me they are constantly receiving
letters from people who read the '333 story' and use it to
perform similar mental magic in their lives.
